Rolling mill for processing cold metal strip



June 25, 1968 BOURNEZ ET AL 3,389,592

ROLLING MILL FOR PROCESSING com) METAL STRIP Filed Oct. 22, 1965 UnitedStates Patent 01 fice 3,389,592 Patented June 25, 1968 3,389,592 ROLLINGMILL FOR PROCESSING COLD METAL STRIP Lucien Bourncz, Paris, and Louis R.Clement, Vincennes,

France, assiguors to Societe Nouvelle Spidem, Paris,

France Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 500,714 Claims priority,application France, Dec. 17, 1964 6 Claims. (in. 7z-2s0 This inventionrelates to improvements in a rolling mill for processing cold metalstrip and more particularly to the provision of means for fullyautomatically advancing a reel of coiled strip down a ramp to a positionexterior of spaced rolling mill stands at which time it is elevated outof contact with the ramp, and the depending tail portion of the strip isfed by an improved means into the bight between the work-engagingrollers. Upon depletion of the strip as it passes between thework-engaging rollers, and is rewound on a new reel positioned on theother side of the mill, the then depleted reel is disengaged from theunwinding machine, lowered onto the ramp and moved forwardly into aposition of rest between the rolling mill stands where it is retaineduntil the strip from a successive coil of strip is wound upon the newreel, whereupon it is moved from its position of rest downwardly throughan arcuate path into an assembled position with the winding machinepreparatory to receiving a new supply of coiled strip material thereon.

It will be understood as the description progresses that the foregoingimprovements are adaptable to various types of mills, particularly thoseof the four-high, nonreversing type which include two drive Workingrolls of small diameter, each being reinforced by a back-up roll of muchlarger diameter similar in construction and operation to the finishingstands of the hot strip mills. Also, as is wellknown, the rolls and thereels are actuated as a unit by a group of motors, the main motor beingconnected to the working rolls, and the other two to the reels. Themotors are synchronized but are variable as to speed and are usuallydriven from the same motor generator set.

Due to the demand for an even greater production tempo in working withmetals, particularly with increased widths thereof, it has, thus,necessarily led to increased use of still heavier reels Which complicatehandling methods when a reel is to be moved from its depleted positionafter all of its metal has been introduced to a finishing mill to aposition to receive a new material supply. This occurs, for example, infinishing rolling mills which are supplied by modern rough-cast rollingmills or by apparatus for continuous flow of strip.

Heretofore, strip reels or spools have had dimensions where the diameterand width has been of one meter or less. Thus, it has been relativelyeasy for two men to grip the tail end of a strip of coiled metal andintroduce it into the bight of the rolling mill. However, such anaccomplishment becomes physically impossible with reels who dimensionsconsiderably exceed one meter.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the invention is to provide anelevated inclined ramp which extends between the spaced stands of therolling mill, above the rolls, and includes power operated means forelevating the reel of coiled strip thereabove preparatory to feeding thetail end thereof into the bight of the work-engaging rolls.

Another object of the invention is to provide horizontally spacedlyarranged tens-ioning rollers through one of which tension may be appliedto the advancing strip as desired.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pivotally mountedpower-driven means which includes an endless belt that, when swung intoa cooperative position relative to the tension rollers and the rollingmill stand, facilitates entry of the coiled strip into the bight of thework-engaging rolls.

A further object of the invention is utilizing the perpendicularlymovable strip tensioning roller also for the purpose of tensioning theconveyor belt assemblage.

Another further object of the invention is to provide a grappling meanswhich is adapted to remove a reel that is depleted of its stripsubsequent to advancement beyond its position of rest and place it in aposition whereupon a new supply of metal strip will be formed thereon.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view partially in section graphicallydepicting a full coil of strip material with its free end being fed tothe work-engaging rollers, as well as a depleted roll awaiting transferto a work-receiving position; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view partially in section showing thepower-driven endless belt means in a retracted inoperative position.

Turning now to the invention and particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawingsthere is shown in elevation at 10, a typical rolling mill stand (onlyone side shown), within the window 11 of which is depicted in crosssection the fourhigh mill stand comprising work-engaging rollers 12 and13 and back-up rollers 14 and 15, respectively.

Positioned above the upper roller 14 and extending substantially thewidth and length of the spaced rolling mill stands is an inclined ramp16 which includes horizontally spaced trackways (one visible) on whichis provided at any suitable location, preferably within the confinesbetween the space stands 10, an abutment or stop means 17 for a purposethat will be better understood as the description progresses.

A roll of coiled strip material 18 which is to be processed by thework-engaging rollers is positioned on the trackway constituting theinclined ramp 16 with the opposite extremities of the reel or spoolmeans 19 supported thereon and the coil suspended therebetween, as isshown in broken outline.

A pair of elevating means 20 (one shown) are approximately secured forrotation to the outboard side walls of each of the trackways 16 andinclude at the forward end an upturned stop 21 and at the rear extremitythereof a coupling means 22 which is associated with a power means 23and thereby adapted to raise the coil 18 by means of the reelextremities from the trackway into an unwinding machine generallyindicated at 24.

The unwinding machine, which forms no part of the invention thereof,comprises, as usual, suitable conical members, at least one of which isdriven (not shown) which are brought into engagement with the reel androtated at any appropriate speed commensurate with the driving speed ofthe work-engaging rollers. As is well known in this art, windingmachines are also positioned on the opposite side of the rolling millstand and include power-driven means adapted to be associated with areel 25 and driven at a speed compatible with the rate with which thestrip exits from the bight of the rolling mill.

A group of three tensioning rollers 26, 27 and 28 are suitably supportedin any acceptable manner between the spaced stands of the rolling millwith the intermediate roller 27 being arranged for movement in a limitedvertical path of travel between a lowered position, such as that shownin FIG. 1 where this roller is not then in engagement with the strip, toan uppermost position (FIG. 2) where it engages and tensions the stripafter the tail end thereof has been fed through the mill and secured tothe winding reel.

Pivotally secured, as at 29, between the rolling mill stands are a pairof V-shaped plates 30 (one shown) which are maintained in parallelspaced relation by means of rollers 31 and 32, either one of which maybe powerdriven and thus adapted to drive an endless belt 33 andcomprises a conveyor assembly 34 adapted to feed the strip to theWork-engaging rolls.

As viewed in FIG. 1, the conveyor 34 now occupies the position necessaryto feeding the tail end of the strip material to the work-engagingrolls. It will be observed that the inclined upper flight of theconveyor belt is spaced slightly from the tensioning rollers 26 and 28,whereas roller 27 is in its lower retracted position and nowinoperative.

Subsequent to the strip material being fed between the conveyor belt andthe spaced tensioning rollers and winding is begun on the reel 25, theconveyor assembly is swung to the right, as viewed in the drawing ofFIG. 2 into the retracted inoperative position and roller 27 isautomatically lifted up into tensioning contact with the strip materialthrough the actuation of means influenced by the swinging motion of theconveyor.

A further improvement of this invention involves means for facilitatinghandling of spent spools or reels depleted of the coil strip byadvancing them from the unwinding machine 24 to a stop means 17subsequent to their being lowered upon the trackway 16. This arrangementis particularly advantageous since the strip when it leaves the rollingmill must be again wound on another reel. As is well known, empty reelseven alone are very unmanageable to handle with simple hoisting gear asthey are very heavy and unwieldly. However, with this improvement thedepleted reel is permitted to roll to a predetermined point on thetrackway above the four-high rollers and there detained by stop 17preparatory for advancement to the winding station, to the left of FIG.1, when a new reel is desired.

Rotat-ably mounted for movement in an arcuate path of travelapproximating 180, on a bracket 40, at any suitable location betweenspaced stands, is a lever 41 which includes at its free end poweroperated grappling arms 42 and 43.

Thus, when the completely unwound strip material is traversed throughthe mill leaving an empty reel, it is picked from the unwinding machine24 by the elevating mechanism 21 and lowered to the trackway 16 and thenrolled by gravity to the stopping point 17 and is detained there forsubsequent usage when a fully wound spool is removed from the windingmachine.

Although the improvements referred to hereinbefore are shown as beingutilized in connection with a fourhigh mill, those knowledgeable in thisart will readily appreciate it also has utility when used with othermetallurgical machines fed by a spool, such as shearing machines andundulating machines or any other of this type.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been depicted anddescribed, it will be apparent that this embodiment is illustrative innature and that a number of modifications in the apparatus andvariations in its end use may be effected without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rolling mill including Work rolls comprising strip supply meansdisposed at one side of the rolling mill at an upper portion of theframe thereof and a winding means for the strip adjacent to the rollportion of the rolling mill at the other side of the frame, asubstantially horizontal ramp affixed to said frame at the upper portionof said frame and arranged to support said strip supply means, andunwinding means for the strip mounted adjacent to the ramp, means todeposit a coil reel of said strip on said ramp, means to place said reelof strip in said unwinding means in such a manner that the trailing endthereof depends below the ramp, and a conveyor including feed meanspositioned adjacent to the point of introduction of the strip betweenthe work rolls of the rolling mill, whereby the trailing end of thestrip from the reel by slow unwinding thereof may thus be manuallyadvanced onto the feed means and thence between the work rolls of therolling mill.

2. In a rolling mill as defined in claim 1, wherein said reel of coiledstrip is mounted on a mandrel, loading arms pivotally mounted onadjacent sides of the ramp, said arms adapted by pivotal movement toengage the mandrel and to lift the same with the reel for associating itwith the unwinding means.

3. A rolling mill as defined in claim 1, wherein said conveyor includesbelt means arranged to be guided about at least two rollers, saidconveyor arranged to be moved into an operative inclined positionadjacent to said work rolls and beneath the trailing end of said stripwhereupon the strip may be advanced toward the work rolls and pluralroller means including shiftable tensioning roller means cooperatingwith the conveyor to feed said strip.

4. In a rolling mill according to claim 3, including means for swingingsaid conveyor into an inoperative position and addition-a1 means forelevating the shiftable tensioning roller means into contact with theadvancing strip.

5. In a rolling mill according to claim 2, wherein means are included toadvance the empty mandrel onto the ramp adjacent the upper portion ofthe rolling mill into a stand-by position, means comprising a pivotingpincer arranged to grasp and lower the empty mandrel into the windingposition of the strip emerging from the rolling mill.

6. In a rolling mill according to claim 5, including hydraulic means toactivate said loading arms and said pivoting pincer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,474,755 11/1923 Bain et al.72205 2,005,325 6/1935 Peterson 72251 2,011,810 8/1935 Gardner et al.242-781 2,287,283 6/1942 Weber 72205 FOREIGN PATENTS 678,141 l/1964Canada.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

H. 'D. HOINKES, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A ROLLING MILL INCLUDING WORK ROLLS COMPRISING STRIP SUPPLY MEANSDISPOSED AT ONE SIDE OF THE ROLLING MILL AT AN UPPER PORTION OF THEFRAME THEREOF AND A WINDING MEANS FOR THE STRIP ADJACENT TO THE ROLLPORTION OF THE ROLLING MILL AT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FRAME, ASUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL RAMP AFFIXED TO SAID FRAME AT THE UPPER PORTIONOF SAID FRAME AND ARRANGED TO SUPPORT SAID STRIP SUPPLY MEANS, ANDUNWINDING MEANS FOR THE STRIP MOUNTED ADJACENT TO THE RAMP, MEANS TODEPOSIT A COIL REEL OF SAID STRIP ON SAID RAMP, MEANS TO PLACE SAID REELOF STRIP IN SAID UNWINDING MEANS IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE TRAILING ENDTHEREOF DEPENDS BELOW THE RAMP, AND A CONVEYOR INCLUDING FEED MEANSPOSITIONED ADJACENT TO THE POINT OF INTRODUCTION OF THE STRIP BETWEENTHE WORK ROLLS OF THE ROLLING MILL, WHEREBY THE TRAILING END OF THESTRIP FROM THE REST BY SLOW UNWINDING THEREOF MAY THUS BE MANUALLYADVANCED ONTO THE FEED MEANS AND THENCE BETWEEN THE WORK ROLLS OF THEROLLING MILL.